Odobert instrumental as France Under-21s edge England in eight-goal thriller
Fri 21 March 2025, 21:55|
Tottenham Hotspur
Wilson Odobert crafted two assists for France Under-21s on Friday night as they overcame England in a goal-laden friendly in Lorient.
The winger, who fired home his first two Spurs goals just over a week ago to help us through to the last eight of the Europa League, was making his first start for his country since September and shone for them as they ran out 5-3 winners in a pulsating encounter at Stade du Moustoir.
End-to-end, fast, dynamic and full of quality, it was an incredible contest in the north west of France - and Wilson was electric throughout.
From just the first seven minutes alone, you could tell it was set to be quite the night for the neutral as three goals were crashed home in a flash. Despite England taking the lead with just two minutes on the clock through James McAtee, France found themselves in front just five minutes later as goals from Quentin Merlin and Eintracht Frankfurt centre forward Hugo Ekitike turned the game on its head and set its blistering pace.
Wilson grabbed his first assist on 35 minutes to extend Les Bleus' advantage as he superbly beat Manchester City's Rico Lewis on the right before cutting it back for Ekitike to bag his second of the night before Harvey Elliott pulled one back before half-time for the Young Lions to make it 3-2.
However, Wilson was back at it 10 minutes after the interval as he once again got to the by line - this time down the left - before picking out Ekitike once more to tap home and complete his hat-trick.
Ipswich Town's Liam Delap then reduced England's arrears on the hour mark to make the score 4-3 though before Elliott had the chance to level on 65 with a penalty kick. However, the Liverpool man fired high over the bar
A golden opportunity missed, the French went on to grab a fifth through Rayan Cherki on 76 minutes to wrap up the win.
Wilson played 80 minutes in the game before being substituted as he picked up his fourth cap at this level. Before he departed the field though, there were three Spurs men on the pitch as Mathys Tel stepped off the bench for the French on 66 minutes - picking up his ninth cap - before Archie Gray came on in the 78th minute to also win his ninth cap.
For the England senior side, Dominic Solanke was an unused substitute as the Three Lions started the their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 win over Albania at Wembley.
